Thursday, October 18, 2012

Pho Hai An- When you need your Pho Phix

She Said:

Thomas brought me to this restaurant on one of our early dates. We have been eating here semi-regularly for the past 2 years and find it to be a great place to go when we want a quick, inexpensive, but tasty meal. We usually get excellent service, and they are very willing to tailor the food to your tastes. Most recently I had some fried rice and summer rolls, but my usual is the sesame chicken which is crisp and mildly sweet (I know, not Vietnamese, but still tasty).

The biggest downsides to this restaurant are the hours - they aren't open very late, and the atmosphere. They have been around for a while, and their look is very cafeteria-like in respect to the tile floor and cheap furniture, and I could certainly do without the television playing sports. The lighting tends to be very dim, and they rely mostly on the windows and mirrors to keep the place lit. On one hand, kudos for energy efficiency, on the other, it would feel less dingy with more light. Still, the delicious food makes up for the lack of atmosphere, and while I would not choose this location for a romantic evening, it is definitely good for a meal and a good conversation.

He Said:
This post is a little late. We've been busy about the house for various reasons and have been remiss on getting the blog updates.

This is one of the first restaurants I ate at after moving to San Antonio 15 years ago and still keep coming back for the "at home" service and food. I love Pho. But, with the onset of my beef allergy, I can't indulge in it anymore.

If you've never had Pho, it is a thick, rich full flavored beef soup with fresh veggies and noodles with a variety of meats available. Pho Hai An does it right. With the little side tray of additional herbs, lemons, peppers, and other garnishes so fresh you'd swear they were picked fresh that day.

Now days I get the other items on their menu and sometimes dip into their Chinese selectons (all of which has that Vietnamese/French colonial twist).

Mostly I get Bun, which is as close to Pho as I can eat. Fresh tender noodles with crisp veggies and lemongrass and your choice of different meat stuffs on top. If you want a quick, fresh, flavorful meal that is a little lighter than the Pho, this is your dish. I recommend bun with the grilled pork meatballs on top.

Don't forget to get the cafe su da or Iced Vietnamese coffee: strong chicory coffee served with sweetened condensed milk stirred in and then poured over ice! It's earthy, cool, sweet flavor is the perfect counter note to sriracha laced Bun...

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About Us

We have a lot of hobbies, mostly centered around creating or appreciating the finer things in life. We are both artists - Thomas does a lot of industrial art, and Val a lot of smaller fine arts and crafts. Both of us love to create art from found objects.

Our goal here is to share out opinions and thoughts about the things we experience in the adventure called life. Our motto is to "live a beautiful life".

In this blog we will explore the local San Antonio area, focusing on restaurants, cigar shops, and fine products such as cigars, liquor, food.

We will share our hobbies, art and gardening from time to time as well. We hope you enjoy what we have to say.

Note - we do NOT review chain restaurants. We are concerned with supporting local businesses. So you won't see much about the big chains, unless there is something too awesome to ignore - mostly it will be about local shops we go to and enjoy, as well as events and places we visit out and about in Texas.